Citigroup has named Jane Fraser as the new chief executive of its private banking unit, the US-based bank has confirmed to WealthBriefing. She replaces Ned Kelly, who was recently made chief financial officer at Citi.

Ms Fraser, who is currently global head of strategy, mergers and acquisitions, will move into the new role in early June, according to an emailed statement by the bank, which issued its first-quarter results last week.

Prior to joining Citi, Ms Fraser was a partner at McKinsey & Co in London and New York for ten years serving clients primarily in the financial services industry, the statement said.

Deepak Sharma, meanwhile, who recently headed Citi's wealth management unit outside of the US, will become chairman of the private bank. His 32-year career at Citi has spanned different functional and geographical areas, including management positions in Operations and Technology, Treasury, Strategic Planning, Electronic Banking, Citi Private Bank, and Investment Management and in India, Korea, Saudi Arabia, the US and Switzerland.

 Meanwhile, according to the Financial Times, Vikram Pandit vowed to stay on as Citigroup’s chief executive and repay $45 billion in government aid as angry investors attacked the troubled bank’s current and previous management and directors at a heated annual shareholder meeting.

Mr Pandit told more than 500 shareholders gathered in New York that investors and employees had “paid a dear and heavy price” as Citi accumulated huge losses and saw its shares plunge during the crisis.

But Mr Pandit said Citi could bounce back and promised investors “a bold new beginning” under his leadership. “I intend to see this through because there is no more important place to be than Citi,” he said.

Earlier this month, the bank revealed that in Q1 2009 Global Wealth Management revenues declined 20 per cent overall from the same quarter a year before. The bank said this reflected the adverse impact of market conditions on capital markets and investment revenues across all regions.